Introduction to Data Structures
Dr. Partha Pratim Sarangi
July 26, 2021
KIIT Deemed to be University
Presentation Outline
Introduction
Fundamentals
Data Types
Abstract Data Type (ADT)
Data Structure
Comparison of Abstract Data Type and Data Structure
Dr. Partha Pratim Sarangi
Introduction to Data Structures
1/7
Introduction
Prerequisite Knowledge
I. Basic ’C’ programming constructs including primitive data types,
operators, decision control, loops, and string.
II. Derived data types: Arrays, pointers and functions
III. User defined data types: Structures and unions
IV. Dynamic memory allocation
Note that, you have to practice some programs based on above topics
using ’C’ programming language.
Dr. Partha Pratim Sarangi
Introduction to Data Structures
2/7
Fundamentals
Basic Terminologies and Concepts
• Data: Data means value or set of values. Values are raw facts
including numerial values, text, graphs, sounds, images, video etc.
• Entity : An entity is one that has certain attributes and each
attribute holds value. It has existence.
• For example, an employee in an organization is an entity. The
possible attributes and the corresponding values for an entity as
follows.
Entity:
EMPLOYEE
Attributes: NAME
DOB
SEX DESIGNATION
Values:
Ravi Sankar 19/06/74 M
Director
• Note that, an entity after assigning its values results a composite
data.
• Information: It is defined as meaningful data or processed data.
Given set of data are processed to retrieve information.
• The terms data, entity, and information are quite useful in computer
science.
Dr. Partha Pratim Sarangi
Introduction to Data Structures
3/7
Data Types
Basic Terminologies and Concepts Continued...
• Data Type: A data type is a term in computer programming which
refers to the kind of data that is used in computation.
• A data type defines a domain of allowed values and the set of
operations that can be performed on those values.
• For example, Numetric, Real, Boolean, Character, String,
Alphanumeric, Date, Array of integer, Graphics, Image, etc.
• Built-in Data Type or Primitive Data Type: Every programming
language contains a predefined set of data types.
• For example, ’C’ language contains seven built-in data types such as:
char, short, int, long, float, double, long double.
• Java language contains eight built-in data types as follows: boolean,
char, byte, short, long, float, and double.
• If an application needs to use a data type other than the primitive
data types of a language, then the concept of Abstract Data Type
(ADT) and Data Structure come into picture.
Dr. Partha Pratim Sarangi
Introduction to Data Structures
4/7
Abstract Data Type (ADT)
Basic Terminologies and Concepts Continued...
• An abstract data type (ADT): It is a mathematical model or
concept that logically defines a user-defined data type.
• It contains a set of data and the set of valid operations on it.
• The specification of a set of data is independent of the actual
implementation and so is abstract.
• An Abstract data type consists of two parts:
• Declaration of set of data
• Declaration of operations
• Think of ADT as a black box which hides the inner structure and
design of the data type.
• Commonly used ADTs include: Linked Lists, Stacks, Queues, Binary
Trees, Dictionaries, Disjoint Sets, Hash Tables, Graphs, and many
others.
Dr. Partha Pratim Sarangi
Introduction to Data Structures
5/7
Data Structure
Basic Terminologies and Concepts Continued...
• Data Structures: It is a programming construct used to implement
an ADT.
• Data structure is a physical approach of arranging and storing data
in the computer memeory so that it can be used efficiently.
• It is physical implementation of ADT.
• ADT is the logical view of data and the set of operations which are
perfromed on data.
• While, Data structure is the physical representation of data and the
algorithms to perform operation on data.
• ADT is a logical description of operations while Data structure is
concrete i.e., ADT tells us what is to be done and Data structure
tells us how to do it.
Dr. Partha Pratim Sarangi
Introduction to Data Structures
6/7
Comparison of Abstract Data
Type and Data Structure
Abstract Data Type and Data Structure
Figure 1: Illustrates difference between ADTs and Data Structures
Dr. Partha Pratim Sarangi
Introduction to Data Structures
7/7
Thank You!
Dr. Partha Pratim Sarangi
Introduction to Data Structures
8/7